The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s fund will help finance Southern Helwan’s power station.(AFP Photo)

The fund for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will help finance Southern Helwan’s power station, said Minister of Electricity and Energy Ahmed Emam in an official statement on 29 September.

The announcement came after the signing of an official agreement stating that the OPEC fund will contribute $70m to the project.

The statement added that the total cost to finance this project is EGP14bn, around $2b. The project will be financed by international institutions such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) as well as state-owned Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company (UEEPC).

Emam stated that the Helwan station development project is part of the 2012/2017 five year plan set by the government to supply enough electricity to meet growing demand. The station is said to produce 1950 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

The project will consist of three steam turbines, the capacity of each at 650 MW, which will use natural gas as the main energy source and other diesel fuel products as an alternative. These steam units will then be linked to the national electricity grid by 2017.

The Helwan station project will be implemented through a 17-system operation, which the statement said would allow for fair competitions and best prices.

Earlier this week, state owned MENA reported that two gas units that were set to help activate an electricity power plant in Banha will begin operating in October and will produce a total of 750 megawatts of energy.

Last Tuesday, the High Energy Committee mandated that high energy consuming factories rely on renewable energy instead of fuel to meet their energy needs.

During the meeting, attended by Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, Emam said that the decision will seek to have high energy consuming factories meet 50% of their needs using new and renewable energy sources. The ministry said that it hoped that by 2020, 20% of Egypt’s energy needs would be met through renewable sources.

Egypt had experienced a wave of blackouts during the government of former president Mohamed Morsi. After his ouster, the blackouts stopped for about two months only to return due to fuel shortages and high levels of consumption.